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Over the winter break, we enrolled our first patient into the calibration stage of the lisinopril in multiple sclerosis study. This initial stage of the trial is to validate the novel remote endpoint that we will use in the 100-patient, Phase 2 study. In designing this trial, we have adapted the Multiple Sclerosis Function Composite (MSFC) to be done from a patient's home or office via video chat. The examination consists of the participant completing a timed walk test, a dexterity peg test, and an mental arithmetic test. I've attached a couple photos to give you a sense of the telemedicine set up for this trial.

Open-sourcing life science makes the case for how open source principles hold the promise of accelerating the R&D process. Open innovation and transparency are core founding principles of TLS.

Enrolling the quantified self in research discusses the exponential growth in the number of medical devices, apps, tracking sites, and people using them. Harnessing mobile technology to transform clinical trials is a fundamental strategy at TLS. (See link in this section to a blog post by TLS advisor Bernard Munos.)

Democratizing science explores opening scientific inquiry to citizen scientists, as well as crowdsourcing solutions to scientific problems. TLS is developing the protocols for its clinical trials bycrowdsourcing input from researchers, medical professionals, patients and any and all interested laypeople.

Putting the patients in "patient-centeredness" notes there are rarely patients or patient representatives at the table for the healthcare discussions that matter. TLS puts patients at the center by seeking and valuing their input in the design and conduct of all its clinical trials.

I like the other trends discussed as well – let us know what you think!

TLS had the priveldge to speak on two panels at this week's Drug Information Association anuual meeting in Boston. I'm sure that some TLS members were in attendence. On Tuesday I spoke on the Reinventing the R&D Business Model: Heeding the President’s PCAST Report on Innovation panel, hosted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. The discussion was of course informative, but I think it's also important to take a moment to realize the transition that has brought us to this point. When I first began casually speaking about the TLS model, the terms openness and transparency were not being spoken, let alone being en vogue. It's so gratifying to watch the forum for these ideas grow throughout the industry.

After I spoke on Tuesday, our COO Marc Foster spoke on the Clinical Trial Visit of the Future: Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Crack the Patient Recruitment Challenge. Here Marc was able to examine the increasing number of remote data collection possibilities in the field. As you may know, our lisinopril study uses mostly remote monitoring, so it was great to see a panel reinforce a major tenet of our model.

We have more speaking slots booked for later in the summer, so stay tuned for more updates.

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About Tomasz

Tomasz Sablinski co-founded TLS in 2012, stimulated by the opportunity to introduce a new model of drug development afforded by modern computer sciences, technology, and new communication and knowledge generation patterns. He has over thirty years of experience in healthcare. This includes fifteen years of pharmaceutical development in a major pharmaceutical company, a CRO, and consulting for small biotechnology companies. Transparency Life Sciences’ origins lie in his strong belief that the current system of drug development must be completely changed to develop medications at a fraction of the current cost.